Birmingham Primary Schools

Indoor 4-a-side Competitions 2002

held at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre

on Saturdays 27 April and 11 May 2002

The Birmingham Primary Schools indoor 4-a-side tournaments are among the most exciting football events of the season. It is fast, and demanding for the players, and is most enjoyable to watch, and this season’s two competitions were no exception.

The event has been running for nearly 40 years, when it was originally sponsored by the Sports Argus. Later Birmingham Cable became its sponsor, and at present the competition is open to offers of new sponsorship.*

The eight primary districts in Birmingham each stage their own 4-a-side competition during the winter months, and the champions of each district, and sometimes the runners-up, are invited to the final stage of the competition.

For the last two seasons, the finals have been held at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre, which is an ideal venue for the competition, and our Association would like to thank the management and staff at AVLC for their hospitality and the use of their facilities.

We also thank the St John’s ambulance brigade, who are on standby in the event of serious injury, our referees, Chris Smith, our chairman, who organises the competition, and all those who help on the days of the finals.

The girls played in the final of their competition on 27 April, and the boys turned up two weeks later, on 11 May.

GIRLS Saturday 27 April 2002

The 16 schools who participated in the tournament were:

LEAGUE A

LEAGUE B

LEAGUE C

LEAGUE D

Manor Park

Holy Family

Hillstone

Yardley Wood

Raddlebarn

Glenmead

Chilcote

Hobmoor

Brookvale

St Lawrence

New Oscott

Welford

Little Sutton

The Oval

Perry Beeches

Court Farm

 

In the group stage, each school played the others once, and the winners of each league were:

A. Manor Park

B. Holy Family

C. Chilcote

D. Yardley Wood

In the semi-finals, Manor Park beat Holy Family, and Yardley Wood beat Chilcote.

The final began at 11.40 am, over two and half hours since the tournament began, and it was soon evident that some of the players were very tired, having given their all in the qualifying leagues. In an exciting match, which was not as one-sided as the score might suggest, Manor Park beat Yardley Wood by 4 goals to nil.

BOYS Saturday 11 May 2002

The 16 qualifying schools were:

LEAGUE A

LEAGUE B

LEAGUE C

LEAGUE D

Glenmead

Cottesbrooke

The Firs

Woodgate

St Lawrence

Harborne

Yardley

Hawthorn

St Mary & St John

New Oscott

Chilcote

Kingsthorne

Wyndcliffe

Timberley

Perry Beeches

St Thomas

 

The winners of the leagues were:

A. Glenmead

B. Cottesbrooke

C. The Firs

D. Kingsthorne

 

In the semi-finals, Glenmead beat Cottesbrooke 6-3, and The Firs beat Kingsthorne 4-1.

The final turned out to be a nail-biting affair. Glenmead had only 4 fit players left, but looked comfortable with a 3-0 lead after 4 minutes. The Firs pulled one back just before half-time, and although Glenmead scored a fourth, The Firs battled to bring the scores level by the end of normal time.

Extra time brough one more goal for each side, and the outcome of this excellent final was that The Firs and Glenmead shared the trophy. In presenting the trophy, Chris Smith told the players and spectators that this was probably the best final that the competition had ever produced, and that it had been an excellent advertisement for primary schools’ football.

* Sponsorship

If you feel that you may be in a position to sponsor this or any of our competitions, please do not hesitate to contact our association. All our competitions are run on a purely voluntary basis, with no financial support. We raise money to pay for the medals, the trophies, for the hire of the sports halls, and for organising all our competitions, by holding raffles and quizzes, and we would welcome any offers of support or sponsorship. Alternatively, if you would like to make a donation towards our costs, it would be gratefully received.

Mike Scott, secretary BPSFA